Speare Memorial Hospital recognized for excellence in heart attack care

PLYMOUTH — Speare Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines — Coronary Artery Disease STEMI Receiving Center Bronze recognition for its commitment to providing rapid, research-based care to people experiencing a specific type of heart attack known as an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), considered more severe and life-threatening than other types of heart attacks.

Each year, more than 1.2 million people in the U.S. are hospitalized with acute coronary syndrome, according to the American Heart Association. About 30% of these cases are classified as STEMI, caused by a complete blockage in a coronary artery.

Speare’s recognition as a STEMI Receiving Center highlights the hospital’s commitment to following the latest evidence-based guidelines to ensure patients experiencing heart failure or the most serious type of heart attack receive timely, high-quality care around the clock.

This achievement represents months of dedication from Speare’s clinical teams. Beginning last fall, physicians, nurses, and staff across multiple departments worked tirelessly to implement, track, and demonstrate compliance with rigorous national quality standards. For a community hospital like Speare, earning this recognition is a significant accomplishment and reflects the hospital’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and exceptional patient care.

"Effective and timely care is critical for patients experiencing a STEMI heart attack," said Abhinav Goyal, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association Coronary Artery Disease System of Care Advisory Group.

Speare has demonstrated a sustained commitment to treating people according to the most current, science-based guidelines for STEMI care, as outlined by the AHA, and has coordinated closely with a network of referring hospitals and emergency medical services to deliver timely, guideline-directed STEMI and NSTEMI care.

"Speare is dedicated to improving the quality of heart care, and the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines program helps us achieve that goal," said Debra Thompson, outpatient nurse director at Speare. "The program puts proven science into practice every day, giving people experiencing a heart attack the best possible chance of survival."

Get With The Guidelines is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 18 million patients since 2001.

For more information, visit heart.org or SpeareHospital.com.